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Alberta to Punish Damages to Rail, Energy Assets: Protest Update

Protest Disrupts Commuter Trains to Toronto: Blockade Update

(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta, seeking to head off blockades that have paralyzed parts of the country’s rail network in recent weeks, introduced legislation to increase penalties for protesters who damage or interfere with infrastructure.

The bill proposed Tuesday by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney would add penalties of as much as C$25,000 ($19,000) and six months of prison time for those who interfere with “essential infrastructure,” including pipelines, refineries, railways and mines. It also would create legal offenses for entering infrastructure facilities under false pretenses, interfering with their construction and aiding others with committing those offenses.

Environmental and indigenous-rights activists have obstructed rail lines across Canada to protest the construction of TC Energy Corp.’s C$6.6 billion Coastal GasLink pipeline in British Columbia. On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged his government’s efforts to negotiate a solution had failed and signaled he would be open to police intervention. Some blockades came down thanks to injunctions obtained by Canadian National Railway Co., including one near Edmonton, Alberta’s capital.

More on the Rail Blockades


After disruptions to shipments of agricultural products, oil and propane, the latest focus has been commuter trains to Toronto.

Commuter Train Service Resuming in Milton (6:10 p.m. Toronto)

Commuter train services are resuming in Milton, Ontario, with a detour in place, GO Transit said in a tweet.

Pipeline Protest Disrupts Trains to Toronto (7:30 a.m. Toronto)

Commuter trains heading to Canada’s financial capital were snarled by an indigenous protest on Tuesday, a day after police cleared a blockade east of Toronto that was taking a nationwide economic toll.

The new blockade went up Monday night near Hamilton, along the Chicago-to-Toronto corridor. It prompted the cancellation of at least three GO Transit trains in southwestern Ontario that connect commuters into Toronto, according a notice on the passenger carrier’s website.

Ontario Provincial Police cleared the blockade in Tyendinaga, near Belleville, on Monday, enforcing an injunction obtained by Canadian National Railway Co. after protesters ignored a midnight Sunday deadline.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair told reporters after police moved in that he was concerned about the potential for blowback. Other top Trudeau officials stressed the need to restart talks with indigenous groups to prevent any further interruption of rail service.

The federal government worked behind the scenes during the crisis to arrange a track-sharing deal between CN and rival freight carrier Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., according a report Tuesday by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Via Rail Canada Inc., the main intercity passenger service, was forced to cancel almost all of its trains because of the Tyendinaga and British Columbia protests. Via said on Monday that almost all routes would be operational again by Friday.

--With assistance from Divya Balji and Stephen Wicary.

To contact the reporter on this story: Carlos Caminada in Calgary at ccaminada1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Derek Decloet at ddecloet@bloomberg.net, Kevin Orland

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